A gas turbine engine generally includes a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. The compressor section progressively increases the pressure of a working fluid entering the gas turbine engine and supplies this compressed working fluid to the combustion section. The compressed working fluid and a fuel (e.g., natural gas) mix within the combustion section and burn in a combustion chamber to generate high pressure and high temperature combustion gases. The combustion gases flow from the combustion section into the turbine section where they expand to produce work. For example, expansion of the combustion gases in the turbine section may rotate a rotor shaft connected, e.g., to a generator to produce electricity. The combustion gases then exit the gas turbine via the exhaust section.
The turbine section includes a plurality of rotor blades, which extract kinetic energy and/or thermal energy from the combustion gases flowing therethrough. During operation of the gas turbine engine, the rotor blades experience vibrations, which may cause fluttering, fretting, shingling, and/or other aeromechanical issues. The amplitude of these vibrations may be greater in larger rotor blades, such as the rotor blades positioned in the final stages of the turbine section. In this respect, the aeromechanical issues caused by vibrations may limit the size of the rotor blades in the turbine section, particularly the final stages thereof.